Beautiful, magical, emotional, and deeply layered. I really loved this book.

It is character driven, with diverse and lovable characters. It's well-paced. I never felt bogged down with superfluous details. And I loved the world-building, which felt new, but still familiar.

There is also some great subtext in this book. Nothing is particularly overt, but the story does an elegant job of mirroring the isolating influence of bigotry—the you'll-never-be-good-enough judgment of others.

In the end, I cried. Before the end, I cried. This is a beautifully moving and life-affirming story. It is a book about embracing your truth and following your passions. And it is a story of self-discovery, found family, friendship, community, and love. The world needs more books like this.

Thank you Poison Pen Press/Sourcebooks for a copy of this ARC! I was incredibly excited to receive this so I can't thank you enough!

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book as much as I would've liked. I love cozy fantasy, I love food/baking competitions and I love low stakes! Alas, this book did not give me the mix I wanted. But to get the positives out of the way:

1. The side characters were pretty fun! There was not one that I didn't like, and thought that they added a lot to the book in a good way. I do wish they appeared slightly more often, but I don't think it would've matter either way.
2. The writing was easy to read! I tore through this book quite easily, although I did see some sentences that made me have to think somewhat. Otherwise however, again, I had no problems reading this book.
3. I LOVE that recipes were provided at the end of this book. As someone who loves to bake, I appreciate it when books about food give out the recipes to the food shown in the book!
4. Theo is great, I adore him. He's just a nice green thumb who respects Arleta as a baker AND as a woman and quite frankly, he deserves better. It was a joy to read when he was around.

Now, onto my not so positive thoughts:

1. I think Arleta is incredibly under written. She's an amazing baker, she's non magical and she's human and...that's kinda all to her. She's also insecure, and unfortunately, I don't think it was written in a way that added anything to her. Nothing about her backstory explains away her insecurities, other than the fact that as a magicless human, people write her off. Her personality doesn't go further than 'nice girl who doesn't want to stand out for fear of being discovered'. This colours a lot of her interactions with other characters (especially those with strong personalities) and it just makes her stand all the more out as a character who is bland.
2. The worldbuilding here is...forgettable? Maybe nonexistent because I couldn't remember a lot of it other than: elves are better than everyone. Which doesn't make sense to me. Nothing here is set up for me to agree with how elves are almost worship liked by other races. I don't think it helps that we don't actually get a lot of elven characters, and the ones we see are already put on a high horse for something other than their race. All in all, I was just really confused.
3. This book is too fast paced when it came to the actual competition. I understand that is a cozy fantasy, but it was boring. We go from one scene to another in fast succession without giving many details. It doesn't feel like there's a lot of stakes involved when we're quick to get the results. There was never a point where I feared anything unlucky would happen to the MC.
4. At times, it felt like there were certain scenes written in for the sake of having those tropes be in the book. Unfortunately, as a result, I don't think they actually fit in. Or the characters weren't given enough time or development for those scenes to work out. Which is a shame because I think they could've worked out.

Overall, I have to rate this a 2 stars. I appreciate the effort that went into this book, but it wasn't for me, I don't think.

This is cozy fantasy perfection!!!! If I could explain what I love in this genre I would give you this book!

In this story we follow Arleta as she’s struggling to make ends meet with her pastry stand. However thanks to her neighbours she has a chance to compete in the Baking Battle and possibly win enough money to buy herself a shop. Through baking elimination rounds, new friends and a love interest, you should definitely see how this story goes!

I’m obsessed with the characters in this, Doli and Jez were wonderful friends to the MC, also their dynamic is why I love found family. Arleta struggled a lot with impostor syndrome in this one, but who doesn’t? She felt very relatable, but also such a sweetheart to read about. Theo???? Theo??? The perfect love interest for me. The writing was super easy to read, the atmosphere super magical, and the baking competition had me craving sweets at 3 a.m. Overall, this was a great read for me and I cannot recommend this enough!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.25 stars

yes, i love cozy fantasies. on a whole, i think this story is pretty forgettable, but nonetheless it’s super sweet, fun, and lovable. it will get you craving all sorts of delectable treats.

i’m happy to say the strength of this book lies in its food descriptions and the bake-off, because that’s exactly why i picked this up. it’s very clear that the author knew what she was talking about, describing the baking process in enough detail that you were immersed in the story. the baking competition was actually very engaging. i enjoyed reading about a character mixing ingredients and creating glazes, which i don’t say too often. and i could practically smell each of the treats; this is a book you should read while eating a warm scone or cookie.

the pacing was definitely a bit slow, which is expected of a cozy fantasy, but the baking competition only lasted about one-third of the story. i feel the author could have cut out a lot of the extra scenes at the beginning to get to the competition faster. a lot of time was wasted because arleta is unnecessarily stubborn and refuses to do things that she obviously should. her dialogue would go something like “oh i can’t go to the competition even though i’ve always wanted to” or “oh i know i have feelings but we could never be together!” and it definitely frustrated me.

the romance wasn’t working for me either for multiple reasons. firstly, arleta and theo had little chemistry. arleta had more chemistry with her lemon bars than with theo. i’m blaming this on theo because he had no depth and was flatter than arleta’s cookies. basically, there were no romantic sparks. the story is very insta-lovey, largely due to fated mates, a trope i’m coming to despise. i think authors rely too much on the “mate” aspect to properly build a relationship, but on the other hand penner did include a lot of sweet moments and dialogue that made me smile.

the side characters stole the show. we have a bubbly dwarf who is a literal ray of sunshine, a fennec fox who hides how much she cares and refuses to sugarcoat anything, and two loving adoptive orc who protect and support arleta through everything. we don’t have much on their backgrounds, but they livened up arleta’s interactions since she couldn’t accomplish much by herself. poor girl would probably be off crying with a raspberry tart without them.

the idea of the ending, everyone coming together in a big happy family, is nice but a little utopian. everything felt a bit rushed (except artleta’s relationship with theo, which was slow as a snail in a frustrating way), especially because taenya’s decisions came out of nowhere. i think the author was trying to make up for the fact that everyone only knew each other for about a week before this.

if you really love cozy fantasy, i think you’d enjoy this, but otherwise it’s pretty slow and lacks depth. to be honest, i’m forgetting the story right now even though i just finished the book. but this is a good book to pair with a warm treat and cup of coffee, and there’s some recipes at the back of the book that i might take a look at! thank you netgalley and poisoned pen press for the e-arc! #AFellowshipofBakersMagicDeluxeEdition #NetGalley

This was my first cozy fantasy and I loved it! The vibes were immaculate and I was swept away by the world instantly. When Theo first appeared I was picturing him as a sort of little imp like elf and then I realised he was actually the love interest and I went oh okay he's supposed to be a beautiful elf 🤭✨ which made perfect sense, because he was - I mean come on he was so sweet and gentle. The baking contest didn't begin till closer to half way and I didn't really mind that. I do however wish there was more to the ball scene - it was far too short. I also loved how everything came together in the end, and how there was growth from many characters including Arleta (although a lot of her growth felt very surface level to me and could have been developed further). Doli was by far my favourite character, how could she not be! I adored the found family trope and I find myself looking forward to future publications in this world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great addition to the cozy fantasy selection. It reads like watching an episode of the Great British Bake Off with all the magic and excitement it brings. The romance was cute and fun to watch develop without overshadowing the main plot.

I will say, it did take me a minute to connect with Arleta. She is a little too defensive and pessimistic, and repeats her magicless problem way too many times. While it is understandable with her past, it makes her sort of frustrating to read from her point of view until you get to know her better. This was really my only gripe with the book.

I can't wait for the next installment in this series!

This was the perfect cozy read. It was well paced and I enjoyed all of the characters. I couldn't stop thinking about the yummy treats during it lol! I love competitions in books and a bake off? Sign me up!

I loved the diverse creatures. The descriptions were excellent and the magic was great! Also, fated mates and slow burn? Soo good! I really liked Arleta's character. Her growth was very nice. Plus Theo was 🤌🏻

I can't wait to see what else this author brings to the table!

Thank you Poisoned pen press for the gifted arc

As a big GBBO fan, I enjoyed reading a fantasy version of this style of competition. I liked spending time in the world Penner is building and loved the notes of the found family for Arleta. I felt the ending was very satisfying and left me with wonderful cozy vibes that make me smile.

What I didn't love, was the writing. It didn't feel quite as polished as I would hope for a book being published. I felt it needed a couple more passes of an editor to eliminate some of the repetitive lines and moments. Arleta as a character wasn't the most approachable FMC I would have hope for in a book of this style. I understand what the author was going for but I wish it had been fine tuned in spots so it was less off putting. Also I didn't like with how she treated the MMC most of the time. However, Theo was a wonderful character on his own as were most of the side characters in this story. I liked Doli and will be tempted to read her story in the future.

I appreciate the recipes included at the end and look forward to trying them out.

This book was incredibly sweet and cozy and lovely and just what I needed right now. I loved Arleta and Theo, and all of their wonderful friends. Such a perfect cozy fantasy with lovely baking!

This is such a cute read! It’s so cozy and homely and so easy to read. I’ll honestly be recommending this to everyone!!

I absolutely adored this novel! The vibes were so fun, it felt like the Great British Bake-off blended with DnD, and all of the characters were so loveable - a light-hearted and tender cozy fantasy. I really liked how Arleta's confidence grew as the story progressed, and the narrative between her and Theo was interesting and dynamic. This had a lovely found family feel and the importance of having a support network and people who you can call home was a strong theme throughout.

I've seen reviews saying this story has been done before and to that I say, "Sure but never by J. Penner!" I adore any story that involves baking and found family and a competition! I found this to be quite the delightful entry into the cozy fantasy genre and I think anyone looking for a sweet palette cleanser will be pleasantly charmed by this one!

Cozy fantasy has been taking booktok by storm and this was… fine? This book was very cute and relatively well written, sadly it was also literally nothing new. I enjoyed the story in the way I enjoy a lullaby. Three and a half stars and a cautious recommendation

I absolutely devoured The Fellowship of Bakers and Magic! I picked it up last night, and before I knew it, I had finished it by this morning—I just couldn’t put it down. I’ve always loved a cozy read and am still relatively new to fantasy (currently deep in my fairies and elves era), but add food to the mix, and I’m all in. I went in with an open mind, and this book completely won me over. The story was enchanting, the characters felt so real, and every element just worked perfectly. And I especially love when a culinary-theme cozy includes recipes, which I will be trying.

One thing I really appreciated is that it was kept clean. I’m not someone who alludes to spiciness in books, so it was refreshing to fully enjoy the story without that element. It’s one of those books that sticks with you, the kind you keep coming back to, and I can’t wait to dive into more of this author’s work!

This book was a let down.

I was so enchanted by the premise. But then.

Sigh. Let's get into it.

SUMMARY:
Arleta Starstone is a baker living in the small village of Adenashire. She makes her meager living by selling her baked goods at the local market. She has two other names: Negative Nancy and Debbie Downer. Anyway, one day her Gay Orc Dad(love him) enters her into a baking competition in Elf Country aka Langheim - without her knowledge. She is accepted!...What a travesty. This is the worst thing that ever happened to her, apparently.

Goodness.

Informing her of her acceptance is Theo. Theo is an elf who for some reason is just immediately in love with Arleta, and she him. Like, right off the bat. After some complaining and escape attempts from Arleta, Theo manages to get her to go to the Baking Battle. We meet more fun side characters, we do surprisingly little baking to be honest, we get a happily ever after the end.

MY THOUGHTS:
Yo what are these characters. They have little to no personality or depth. Every single thing about them/the world is told directly to us. Not an ounce of subtext in this book.

For example: The main conflict of this book is that Arleta is a human with no magic, and is therefore horribly discriminated against. At least, that is what Arleta tells us. Literally not even once does anyone else seem to care. Like, the market owner is supposed to be super racist against humans. But like he seems to only be upset with her because she is consistently TWO HOURS late to set up her booth. Daily. Like, yeah, I would be mad too.

Theo and Arleta have zero chemistry. Which makes sense, because Theo has the personality of a Live Laugh Love sign. Kind, basic, boring. Also for a romance novel I felt like he was hardly in the book??? Maybe just because he doesn't do a lot when he is there. IDK.

Make Taenya the love interest she and Arleta had way more chemistry lol.

We stan the side characters, who were at least fun. Still entirely one-dimensional, but like at least they had some charm.

THE GOSH DANG ROSEMARY.

Honestly at times this book kinda read like a children's book. The writing was bland and simple. Very little worldbuilding, which was disappointing to me as I was rather interested in the setting. Like, this felt like a YA novel that was more on the 12-14 side than the 17-21 side, ya know?

The sentence structure was weird and confusing at times. It felt choppy and disjointed; sometimes it was hard to know who was talking/thinking about what. The pacing was strange. Despite there being a clear endpoint in the finale of the Baking Battle, it never really felt like we were making progress. Then that endpoint is not the endpoint, because we still have 15% left in the book.

Let this book end omg why is this a slow burn what even is the conflict keeping them apart GOD.

FINAL OPINION:
This made me sad, man. I was so hyped. A fantasy baking competition??? Love, obsessed. But in the end the Baking Battle was somehow hardly used. Each challenge lasted 1-2 pages, and then it was back to the boring romance and contrived conflict. I am so interested in the setting that I am tempted to check out the other books in the series, but I don't think I will after slogging through this book. Who knows.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me an advanced copy of the deluxe edition of this book.

A delightful cozy fantasy romance, where a human baker is entered into a baking competition in hopes of wining the prize money to allow her to open her own bakery. Along the way she slowly comed out of her shell while facing challenges, making friends and even falling in like, maybe even love.

Let us talk about "A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic" by J. Penner.

I'm all for a cozy fantasy read and when you combine my other loves, such as baking, baking competitions, and a whimsical journey, you have a sweet, sugary treat to devour.

Set in the world were all creatures, except for humans, can wield magic, our skeptical female main character Arleta just wants to get through her day, selling her delicious baked goods in order to save money to buy her own bakery in town. What she doesn't expect is her found family entering her into a baking competition without her knowing, resulting in an unexpected visitor upon her doorstep.

From the small town of Adenashire, through the forests toward Langheim, Arleta Starstone and the charming elf Theo, encounter wonderful characters, munching on delicious treats, and experimenting with unique flavors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy for review.

✨ Found Family
✨ Magical creatures
✨ World building
✨ Competitions
✨ He falls first

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🫑
Series: Book 1 of 4

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7306448845
Fable: https://fable.co/review/cc5d92ac-e990-4425-82b8-c99e2e4cce6b/share

It has been quite awhile since I last reviewed an ARC and I’m so glad that this was my foray back into reviewing! This is an incredibly sweet tale of a baker who has let her fears and insecurities get the better of her.

Arleta is an average human, not special like the other races who all have access to magic. She’s not feisty or a warrior. Her parents died when she was a small child, so she is alone in the world. She’s just a baker, trying to make a way for herself in her small town.


But what she doesn’t understand is that she isn’t alone. Even when she tries to freeze them out, the people around her see her and choose her. Even the most perfect and beautiful of them, her soon to be elven friends.

I loved this book for the cozy vibes, chosen family and intentional diversity. There is room for improvement in storytelling, but for a first foray into publishing I think J Penner has done an excellent job. I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

This was cute - unfortunately it wasn’t cute *enough*. Arelta’s self-doubt was so much that it actually detracted from all the other plot points. I was much more invested in the side characters than her. Poor Theo.

I think the main issue I have with the book is it is too short, which really hurts the pacing and what are supposed to be emotional moments. The baking competition doesn't start until over a third of the way through the book. I don't think the end of the book was earned, because I don't think enough time to given to the parts involved with it. This might sound vague, but I don't want to spoil anything.

I did like Arleta learning her own self worth and I liked Theo and their relationship, even if I think the back half could have been balanced better if there had been more to it. But again, that's a problem the book being not very long. I appreciated Arelta, Doli, and Jez's friendship.

Overall, I'm sure this book will work better for other people, but for me, I was kind of disappointed.